Winch construction



March 12, 1963 w. F. HICKSON 3,

WINCH CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 23, 1959 8 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR wILL/n4 F'H N ATTORNEY March 12, 1963 w. F. HICKSON 3,081,067

WINCH CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 23, 1959 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2

, INVENTOR WILL/1M4 Ff? ,q

ATTORNEY March 12, 1963 w. F. HICKSON wmcn CONSTRUCTION 8 Sheets-Sheet 5Filed Nov. 23, 1959 L- I I 1 INVENTOR ffi kon 5 4 ATTORNEY lvlLLhm March12, 1963 w. F. HICKSON 3,081,067

WINCH CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 23, 1959 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 ATTORNEY March12, 1963 w. F. 'HICKSON 3,081,067

WINCH CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 23, 1959 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR lulu-mmf C/QM/ ATTORNEY March 12, 1963 w. HICKSON WINCH CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov.23, 1959 8 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOR WILLIAM F. I CIcJ'oN ATTO RNEY March12, 1963 w. F. HICKISON 35 367 WINCH CONSTRUCTION Filed NOV. 25. 1959 8Sheets-Sheet '7 N Q Q Q 0) Q) INVENTOR WILLIAM E I-HcKSoN ATTORNEY March12, 1963 w. F. HICKSON wmca CONSTRUCTION 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 Filed Nov. 23,1959 ATTORNEY United States Patent F 3,081,067 WINCH CONSTRUCTIONWilliam F. Hickson, Westfield, N.J., assignor to Continental Copper &Steel Industries, Inc. (W clin Davit and Boat Division), New York, N.Y.,a corporation of Delaware Filed Nov. 23, 1959, Ser. No. 854,938 3Claims. (Cl. 254184) The present invention relates to a winchconstruction and it particularly relates to a winch construction for useupon ships.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide. a novellight-weight winch construction for use in connection with ship davitsin which a smaller lightweight and more compact arrangement has beenachieved and which may be readily installed and which will be morereliable in operation.

' Another object is to provide a novel winch construction for use onships in association with davits thereon in which a superior operationwill be obtained with enhanced braking facilities and without likelihoodof malfunction due to entrance of extraneous material.

Still further objects and advantages will appear in the more detaileddescription set forth below, it being understood, however, thatthis moredetailed description is given by way of illustration and explanationonly and not by way of limitation, since various changes therein may bemade by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope andspirit of the present invention.

In accomplishing the above objects, the essential feature of theinvention resides in providing a novel winch gear case and associatedequipment which will all be made of aluminum and which will be much morecompact.

Desirably, an overriding mechanism is employed instead of a ratchet typemechanism, and a centrifugal clutch is utilized in combination with aclutch support housing and with a commercial and improved centrifugalbrake being associated with the winch.

The winch is also thoroughly sealed against all extraneous material bythe use of seals.

. In the preferred form of the invention, the winch is placed to theside of the davits on the deck, and it is provided with upper and lowerdrums closely positioned in respect to a brake drum and a centrifugaldrum with the actuating motor being positioned above the drums andextending vertically.

One wire rope will extend to one davit head and the other wire rope fromthe other drum will extend to the other davit head.

'I he payout mechanism will control the movement of the wire rope sothat there will not be undue slack.

In the hoisting operation, the overriding mechanism will desirablydisengage itself, and there will he provided manual braking means with amanual brake wheel for adjustment,

- On lowering, the brake wheel is engaged through the overridingmechanism to the gear shaft.

On hoisting, on the other hand, the brake wheel will be slackened andthe overriding mechanism will disengage 3,081,067 Patented Mar. 12,1953

shafts with associated rope guide driver and idler rollers and with acarriage capable of lateral movement.

In the arrangement of the present application, where an empty boat islowered, there will be no tendency toward the rope to malfunction. i

Furthermore, the unraveling tendency with a loaded boat or with an emptyboat will be eliminated.

In the preferred arrangement, the top gear, is driven and the speed isgreater than the speed ofthe wire rope coming oif the drum, so that thewire rope will slide wherein is shown an embodiment of the invention,but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modificationscan be resorted to which fall within the scope of the claims hereuntoappended.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters denote correspondingparts throughout the several views:

FIG. 1 is. a. side elevational view showing the winch with the davitheads as mounted upon a boat, with the boat in elevated position andwith the davit heads in elevatedposition', on the starboard side.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the davit elevated upon the starboard side.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the which construction showing themotor and arrangement of the wire drums.

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view taken from the left of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken upon the line 5-5of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a transverse sectional view taken upon the line 6-6 of FIG. .4and upon an enlarged scale as compared to FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a transverse sectional view taken upon the line 7-7 of FIG. 4and upon an enlarged scale as compared to FIG. 4 showing the drums.

, FIG. 8 is a transverse sectional view taken upon the line 88 of FIG.4, showing the payout mechanisms upon an enlarged scale as compared toFIG. 4.

FIG. 9 is a transverse sectional view taken upon the line 99 of FIG. 3showing the payout mechanism.

FIG. 10 is a transverse sectional view taken upon the line 1010 of FIG.9, and upon an enlarged scale as compared to FIG. 9. 7

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary top perspective view showing the payout shaftsas well as the drums for the wire rope. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2,there is shown a ship A having a deck B with the winch W positioned onsaid deck alongside of the near davit head C and the remote davit headD.

Asshown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the winch has the motor E, the drum housing F,and the handles G and H.

From the drums extend the, wire ropes J and K re-- spectively to thenear davit head C and the remote davit head -D. p

The davits will support the lifeboat or motorboat L in elevated positionabove the deck B.

The davit heads themselves are supported on the lower structureincluding the trackways M and N;

, As shown in FIG. 2, both wire ropes J and K will pass through thepulley arrangement P before extending to 3 the davits C and D, and theywill extend through the wire rope sheaves or guide pulleys Q associatedwith the davit heads as shown in FIG. 1.

The wire rope will then extend to the block pulleys R which areassociated by hooks S to engage or be associated with the fallsconnected to the lifeboat or motorboat L.

Extending above the davits, are the life lines T (see FIG. 1).

Referring to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, the winch W is provided with the uppermotor E on a vertical axis.

The motor is mounted on top of a centrifugal clutch unit -U.

Below the centrifugal clutch unit U is located the brake and brake drumunit X.

Inside of the drum housing F is the upper drum Y and the lower drum Z.

Below the drum is the payout mechanism AA which is shown in greaterdetail in FIGS. 8 and 9.

Referring to FIGS. and 6, the lower part 20 of the motor housing ismounted by bolts 21 to the flange 22 at the top of the housing 23 of thecentrifugal clutch unit U (see FIG. 5).

The lower end 24 of the motor shaft will extend into the housing 23 ofthe centrifugal clutch U and will be mounted in the centrifugal clutchhub 25 (see FIG. 5) which is held in position by the plate 26 and thebolt 27.

The pivot or bolt connections 28 to the centrifugal clutch members 29will cause said members to move outwardly to contact the drum 30 of thecentrifugal clutch.

This centrifugal clutch forms no part of the invention but may be of theHilliard type.

The nut 31 on the threaded stud 32 will hold the base of the clutch drum30 upon the shaft 33.

The shaft 33 has a ball bearing 34 and a lower roller conical bearing totake up thrust at 35.

These bearings ride inside of the hub 36 connected to the lower portion37 of the housing 23 (see FIG. 5).

The bottom 37 of the housing 23 is held by the bolts or screws 38 to theupper 39 part of the casing structure for the main transverse horizontalworm shaft BB.

The lower end of the stud shaft 33 which turns with the centrifugalclutch drum 30 has a conical gear 40 (see FIG. 5) which meshes with anddrives the conical gear 41 on the worm shaft BB (see also FIG. 11).

The worm shaft at its ends 60 and 61 carries the crank handles G and Hby means of the connecting members 62 and 63 which fit into the splinesor recesses 64 and 65 in the shaft ends 60 and 61 (see FIGS. 4 and 5).

The portion 66 of the worm shaft is provided with a centrifugal brakearrangement CC which will. govern the speed of the worm shaft BB.

This centrifugal brake arrangement, which may be conventional and doesnot form part of the present invention, has a central hub 67 with thepivotal connections 68 to the outwardly swinging brake member 69 whichin their outer position will. contact the cylindrical brake member 70 onthe. inside of the housing portion 71 of the. housing for the worm shaftBB.

The centrifugal, clutch U and the centrifugal brake CC are showndiagrammatically since their internal structure is not part of theinvention.

Different types of centrifugal brakes and clutches may be employed.

The important feature as indicated in FIG. 5, resides in the fact thatthe axes are at 90 degrees to each other.

Furthermore, the centrifugal clutch U on the vertical downwardlyextending motor shaft 24 and the centrifugal brake CC are on one end ofthe worm shaft BB having an axis at right angles to the axis of themotor shaft 24.

Referring to FIG. 5, there is a conical roller bearing 72 on the wormshaft portion 66 which is separated from the centrifugal brake CC by thegrease seal 73.

Inside of the space 74, there will be a pocket of oil to which access ishad through the plug 75, and this oil 4 level should be above the lowerend of the conical gear 41.

A roller bearing 76 will be positioned between the chamber 74 and theworm 77.

The worm 77 meshes with and drives the worm wheel 78 (see also FIGS. 5,6 and 11).

Beyond the worm 77, the shaft portion 79 of the worm shaft BB is mountedin the roller bearings 89.

The roller bearings 76 and 80 (see FIG. 5) are held in position by theretaining rings 81 and 82.

The shaft portion 83 (see FIG. 5) will connect to the hub 84 of themanual brake drum arrangement X.

The manual brake drum arrangement X has a roller bearing 85 and a seal86, and its hub portion 87 contacts the central hub 88 of the manualbrake wheel adjustment 89.

The seal 86 will prevent any leakage of grease or oil from the chamber90.

Encircling the drum 91 of the hand brake arrangement X will be the brakeband 92 (see also FIG. 4), and this brake band arrangement is showndiagrammatically since its specific construction forms no part of thepresent invention.

The brake band as shown in FIG. 3 has extensions 93 and 94 to the clevismember 95 mounted on the side 96 of the housing F and to the clevis 97mounted on the arm 98 respectively (see FIG. 3).

The arm 98 has an extension 99 with an adjustable counterweight 160 (seeFIG. 3).

The drive from the worm 77 to the worm wheel 78 is showndiagrammatically in FIG. 11 and in enlarged scale in FIG. 6.

As shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and 11, the worm 77 through the worm wheel 78will drive the horizontal shaft 131' having the top thrust conicalroller bearing in the nipple 126 of the gear case 127.

The shaft 131 at its right end is mounted in the ball bearings 128 and129 in the gear case housing portion 130 (see FIG. 6).

The shaft 131 will drive the spur pinion 132 which meshes with anddrives the spur gears 133 and 134 (see FIGS. 6, 7 and 11).

The spur gears 133 and 134 are mounted by the flanges 135 and 136, andthe bolts 137 and 138 to the end plates 139 and 140 of the upper andlower wire rope drums Y and Z (see FIG. 7).

These end flanges 139 and 140 have the hub portions 141 and 142 whichare mounted upon and turned on the enlarged portions 143 and 144 of theupper and lower wire rope shaft elements 145 and 146.

The drums have the cylindrical portions 147 and 148 and the right endconical portions 149 and 150 (see FIG. 7).

The drums terminate at the right in the small cylindrical portions 151and 152 having the flanges 153 and 154.

The right ends of the drums are provided with the inturned nippleportions 155 and 156 which ride on the shaft portions 157 and 158 (seeFIG. 7).

The ends 159, 160, 161 and 162 of the shafts 145 and 146 are mounted onthe end cover plates 163 and 164 by the nuts 165, 166, 167 and 168 (seeFIG. 7).

These end cover plates or side cover plates 163 and 164 form part of thehousing F and at their lower ends, they have the right angle flangeconnections 169 and 170 to the portion of the deck located at 171.

The payout AA mechanism to which the present invention is mostparticularly directed is best shown in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10, and it isshown in small scale in the lower part of FIGS. 3 and 4 below and to theside of the upper and lower wire rope drums Y and Z.

-As shown in FIG. 9, the lower spur gear 134 will drive the gear on thescrew shaft 196. The gear 195 in turn meshes with and drives the gear197 on the longitudinally recessed shaft 198.

The spline shaft 198 has a longitudinally extending recess 199 extendingthe length thereof (see FIGS. 8 and 9), and the screw shaft has a screw'200extending over the middle portion thereof.

The guide unit EE is designed to be held against rotation by thelongitudinally extending recess 199 and to be moved laterally by thescrew 200.

This unit EE has the side plates 201 between which are mounted the ropeguide grooved driver roller 202 and the rope guide idler roller 203.

The driver roller 202 as shown in FIG. 8 has end ball bearings 204- andit is mounted with its axis on the axis of the longitudinally recessedshaft 198.

The idler roller has the end stud portions 205 which are mounted in theside plate members 206- (see FIG. 8).

The bottom plate 207 will be held onto the side plates 206 by the screws208.

The structure 209 acts as a separator for the plates 201 (see FIG. 9).

The ends of the longitudinally recessed shaft have bearing structures210 mounted in the plate portions 211.

The ends of the screw shaft are mounted in the bearing structures 212.

The spline shaft 198 carries the overriding clutch construction 213which is positioned right alongside of the driving gear 197.

This overriding clutch may be of conventional construction, and theinterior construction thereof forms no part of the present invention.

The traveling mechanism which guides the wire ropes is shown in FIG. 10,and it has a plate 207 held in position by the bolts 208 with a springtension member 227 being mounted on the bolt 228.

The pivot pin or hinge pin 229 carries the upper structure and thespring 227 tends to bias the upper structure between the side plates 201away from the bottom plate 207.

This will move the idler roller 203 which is carried by the side platemember 206 toward the drive roller 202 to cause the wire cables to betightly gripped between the driver roller 202 and the idler roller 203.The drive roller 202 is keyed to the shaft 198 and will be driven by theshaft 198.

In operation, the wire rope coming off the drums Y and Z will passbetween the grooved driven roller 202 and the grooved idler roller 203-with the spring 227 moving the rollers together to grip the rope andhold it tightly.

These rollers 202 and 203 in view of the geared connection at 195 and197 to the spur gears 133 and 134 will turn at the same rate as thedrums Y and Z so that there will be no opportunity for the wire rope inthe payout becoming loose or unraveling on the drums Y and Z when theboat L is lowered with a relatively light'load.

The screw 200 will keep the unit between the side plates 201 includingthe idler roller 203- and the driver roller 202 moving back and forthacross the face of the drums Y and Z as the rope moves off the drums Yand Z.

As indicated in the diagrammatic showing of FIG. 11, the gearingarrangement is such that the drums Y and Z and the shafts 196 and 198will all be driven in a predetermined ratio in respect to one anotherand the unit in FIG. 10 will be moved laterally. The longitudinallyrecessed shaft 198 has the recesses 199 extending longitudinally thereofwhich are in effect off-round so that the guide unit BE on the outersurface thereof, sliding therealong, will not turn with thislongitudinally recessed shaft but will slide along said longitudinallyrecessed shaft.

The payout device in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 will be readily reversed throughthe gears 195 and 197.

By means of this arrangement, the wire rope will always be subject topayout at a constant rate, and there will be no tendency for it to runoff the drums Y and Z too quickly when the boat is being lowered with aminimum load or without load.

The present invention is particularly directed to this arrangement bymeans of which the rope is prevented from unraveling or becoming looselycoiled on the drums Y and Z.

However, a further feature of the invention resides in the fact that thewinch frame and structure are all aluminum and are quite compact and arerelatively lightweight.

Furthermore, the centrifugal clutch U together with the centrifugalbrake CC and the overriding clutch 213 will assure smooth, uniformoperation without excessive speed.

The casing structure F as well as the other casing elements aredesirably aluminum.

As many changes could be made in the above winch construction and manywidely different embodiments of this invention could be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the claims, it is intended that all mattercontained in the above description shall be interpreted as illustrativeand not in a limiting sense.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of theinvention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, what isclaimed is:

l. A winch construction comprising a vertically mounted motor having adownwardly extending motor shaft with a lower end, a centrifugal clutchmeans having a clutch shaft, said clutch means operatively engaging saidlower end of said motor shaft, a horizontally extending worm shafthaving two ends, meshing bevel gears operatively connecting said clutchshaft and said worm shaft, a. centrifugal brake operatively connected toone end of said worm shaft, a worm gear intermediate the ends of saidworm shaft, a worm wheel in meshing relationship with said worm gear, aworm wheel shaft having two ends, one end of said worm wheel shaft beingfixed to said worm wheel, a spur pinion fixed to the other end of saidworm wheel shaft, an upper spur gear and a lower spur gear, each inmeshing relationship with said spur pinion, an upper drum fixed to saidupper spur gear for rotation therewith, a lower drum fixed to said lowerspur gear for rotation therewith, and a payout mechanism for controllingthe takeup and payout of an upper and lower wire rope to said upper andlower drums respectively, said payout mechanism comprising a screw shafthaving two ends and a screw portion intermediate said ends, alongitudinally recessed shaft having two ends, intermeshing spur gearson one end of each of said screw and longitudinally recessed shafts, oneof said spur gears on said screw and longitudinally recessed shaftsbeing in meshing relationship with one of said spur gears on said upperand lower drums, a guide unit having two spaced-apart outside plates,said outside plates having screw means in operative relationship withsaid screw portion of said screw shaft for moving said guide unit backand forth with respect to said screw shaft, and said outside platesbeing slidingly mounted on said spline shaft to prevent rotation of saidguide unit about said screw shaft, a guide roller rotatably mountedbetween said outside plates and keyed to said spline shaft for rotationtherewith, said guide roller having at least one groove on its surfaceto guide each of said upper and lower wire ropes, two spaced-apartinside plates, a hinge pin pivotally mounting said inside platesbetween, and depending from, said outside plates, an idler rollerrotatably mounted between said inside plates below said guide roller,said idler roller having at least one groove on its surface to guideeach of said upper and lower wire ropes, and spring means normallybiasing said idler roller about said hinge pin to maintain said grooveson said idler roller in juxtaposition with said grooves on said guideroller.

2. A winch construction in accordance with claim 1, further comprisingan aluminum casing structure enclosing said upper and lower drums andsaid payout mechanism with an opening in said casing structure for saidupper and lower wire ropes to communicate with said guide unit.

3. A winch construction in accordance with claim 1, further comprising amanual brake means operatively connected to the other end of said wormshaft and an overriding clutch means operatively connected adjacent saidspur .gear on said longitudinally recessed shaft.

522,429 Otis July 3, 1894 Nason May 28, McLachlan Sept. 23, McLachlanFeb. 8, Beaumont Nov. 15, Schat July 14, Lear July 2, Osgood July 12,Brown Oct, 4,

FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Dec. 15,

1. A WINCH CONSTRUCTION COMPRISING A VERTICALLY MOUNTED MOTOR HAVING ADOWNWARDLY EXTENDING MOTOR SHAFT WITH A LOWER END, A CENTRIFUGAL CLUTCHMEANS HAVING A CLUTCH SHAFT, SAID CLUTCH MEANS OPERATIVELY ENGAGING SAIDLOWER END OF SAID MOTOR SHAFT, A HORIZONTALLY EXTENDING WORM SHAFTHAVING TWO ENDS, MESHING BEVEL GEARS OPERATIVELY CONNECTING SAID CLUTCHSHAFT AND SAID WORM SHAFT, A CENTRIFUGAL BRAKE OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TOONE END OF SAID WORM SHAFT, A WORM GEAR INTERMEDIATE THE ENDS OF SAIDWORM SHAFT, A WORM WHEEL IN MESHING RELATIONSHIP WITH SAID WORM GEAR, AWORM WHEEL SHAFT HAVING TWO ENDS, ONE END OF SAID WORM WHEEL SHAFT BEINGFIXED TO SAID WORM WHEEL, A SPUR PINION FIXED TO THE OTHER END OF SAIDWORM WHEEL SHAFT, AN UPPER SPUR GEAR AND A LOWER SPUR GEAR, EACH INMESHING RELATIONSHIP WITH SAID SPUR PINION, AN UPPER DRUM FIXED TO SAIDUPPER SPUR GEAR FOR ROTATION THEREWITH, A LOWER DRUM FIXED TO SAID LOWERSPUR GEAR FOR ROTATION THEREWITH, AND A PAYOUT MECHANISM FOR CONTROLLINGTHE TAKEUP AND PAYOUT OF AN UPPER AND LOWER WIRE ROPE TO SAID UPPER ANDLOWER DRUMS RESPECTIVELY, SAID PAYOUT MECHANISM COMPRISING A SCREW SHAFTHAVING TWO ENDS AND A SCREW PORTION INTERMEDIATE SAID ENDS, ALONGITUDINALLY RECESSED SHAFT HAVING TWO ENDS, INTERMESHING SPUR GEARSON ONE END OF EACH OF SAID SCREW AND LONGITUDINALLY RECESSED SHAFTS, ONEOF SAID SPUR GEARS ON SAID SCREW AND LONGITUDINALLY RECESSED SHAFTSBEING IN MESHING RELATIONSHIP WITH ONE OF SAID SPUR GEARS ON SAID UPPERAND LOWER DRUMS, A GUIDE UNIT HAVING TWO SPACED-APART OUTSIDE PLATES,SAID OUTSIDE PLATES HAVING SCREW MEANS IN OPERATIVE RELATIONSHIP WITHSAID SCREW PORTION OF SAID SCREW SHAFT FOR MOVING SAID GUIDE UNIT BACKAND FORTH WITH RESPECT TO SAID SCREW SHAFT, AND SAID OUTSIDE PLATESBEING SLIDINGLY MOUNTED ON SAID SPLINE SHAFT TO PREVENT ROTATION OF SAIDGUIDE UNIT ABOUT SAID SCREW SHAFT, A GUIDE ROLLER ROTATABLY MOUNTEDBETWEEN SAID OUTSIDE PLATES AND KEYED TO SAID SPLINE SHAFT FOR ROTATIONTHEREWITH, SAID GUIDE ROLLER HAVING AT LEAST ONE GROOVE ON ITS SURFACETO GUIDE EACH OF SAID UPPER AND LOWER WIRE ROPES, TWO SPACED-APARTINSIDE PLATES, A HINGE PIN PIVOTALLY MOUNTING SAID INSIDE PLATESBETWEEN, AND DEPENDING FROM, SAID OUTSIDE PLATES, AN IDLER ROLLERROTATABLY MOUNTED BETWEEN SAID INSIDE PLATES BELOW SAID GUIDE ROLLER,SAID IDLER ROLLER HAVING AT LEAST ONE GROOVE ON ITS SURFACE TO GUIDEEACH OF SAID UPPER AND LOWER WIRE ROPES, AND SPRING MEANS NORMALLYBIASING SAID IDLER ROLLER ABOUT SAID HINGE PIN TO MAINTAIN SAID GROOVESON SAID IDLER ROLLER IN JUXTAPOSITION WITH SAID GROOVES ON SAID GUIDEROLLER.